Italian populist firebrand Umberto Bossi, who founded the anti-immigrant Northern League, has died aged 84, leaving a legacy of secessionist rhetoric and political influence.

ROME: Umberto Bossi, the provocative founder of Italy’s anti-immigrant Northern League party, has died at the age of 84. The firebrand populist, who pushed for the wealthy north’s independence, passed away after being briefly admitted to intensive care in Varese.

Tributes poured in from Italy’s right-wing establishment for the senator, a close ally of former Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi. Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni stated that Bossi “marked an important phase in Italian history and made a fundamental contribution” to the Italian centre-right.

President Sergio Mattarella called him “a passionate political leader and a sincere democrat”. Bossi founded the secessionist Northern League in the late 1980s, spending much of his career attacking “Roma Ladrona” or “Thieving Rome”.

He became one of Italy’s longest-serving parliamentarians, spending nearly 30 years in parliament. His party initially called for the north, dubbed the Republic of Padania, to break away from the poorer south.

Bossi helped propel Berlusconi to power and his party joined all three of Berlusconi’s governments. Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani said Bossi was “a key figure in bringing about change in Italy”.

In 2004, Bossi suffered a stroke which forced him to step back from politics. Despite his frailty, he campaigned for the 2008 election, pledging to “take up arms” against “Roman scum” and railing against immigrants.

He was forced to resign as party leader in 2012 after corruption allegations and was convicted of embezzlement in 2017. The verdict was later annulled due to the statute of limitations.

Matteo Salvini took over the party in 2013, dropping “Northern” from its name to appeal to southern voters. Salvini, now deputy prime minister, said the party would “continue to walk the path you have blazed: that of Freedom”.

 The Sun Malaysia